Data quality is the difference between 'success and failure'

Making data quality improvements could be the difference between success and failure when it comes to business, it has been claimed.

This is the opinion of Arvind Krishna, general manager of IBM's information management software division, who noted that problems with data can lead to a loss of revenue as well as market share.

"For professionals responsible for the management of product data, maintaining accurate data is an imperative," he wrote in a column for ctoedge.com.

He warned organizations housing bad data can lead to a number of business-wide problems occurring in the future, stating that issues can spread "quickly like a virus" from master data management systems to databases and to the supply chain.

As such, Mr Krishna claimed that there are a number of ways that companies can tackle the problem.

He noted that by practicing effective information governance, establishing a unified management foundation and implementing proven technologies, data quality problems can be avoided.

Meanwhile, according to Fritz McCormick, senior analyst at Aite Group, many financial companies are realizing the importance of data quality.